Abstract: Planar defects have been found in nitrogen doped 2" 4H-SiC crystals grown on off-axis seeds. The doping level was 1×1019cm-3, which is below the critical one for the thermally activated cubic stacking fault formation in the 4H matrix. Planar defects in the doped region are nucleated on the whole seed surface outside the growth facet. They are coexisting 15R and 6H lamellas of unitcell height as revealed by means of luminescence and high resolution transmission electron microscopy. These inclusions are preferably formed at the rim of the growth facet, where polytype change occurs after switching off the nitrogen flow during growth.